Unconditional Talks or Threat of Force?

Cartoons By Michael Ramirez

Filed under: Global Affairs, Global Threats, Iran, Islam, Muslim, Religion

Pakistan Teetering on Edge…

Pakistan is teetering on the edge! Hold on to your hats and glasses boys and girls, we’re in for a wild ride! The latest from CNN.

I make my prediction here and now… This country will implode within months and things are going to get very, very bad.

Taliban claims victory near Islamabad

By Ivan Watson
CNN

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) — Taliban militants who implemented Islamic law in Pakistan’s violence-plagued Swat Valley last week have now taken control of a neighboring district.

Control of the Buner district brings the Taliban closer to the capital, Islamabad, than they have been since they started their insurgency. Islamabad is 60 miles (96 km) from the district.

“Our strength is in the hundreds,” said Moulana Mohammad Khalil, as heavily armed men openly patrolled the roads in pickup trucks, singing Islamic anthems.

Give them an inch!  The take the whole damn country.

The militants had taken control of the area to ensure that Islamic law, or sharia, is properly imposed, Khalil said.

Oh, but they certainly can be trusted to adhere to agreements.  Maybe President Obama should start discussions with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

“Now Taliban are violating the peace agreement, and if they continue the government will take strict action and not allow the Taliban to create a parallel government in that area,” said Mian Iftikhar, a spokesman for the regional administration in the North West Frontier Province, where Buner is located.

This ain’t gonna end well. 

 

Filed under: Global Threats, Islam, Muslim

Al Qaeda bungles arms experiment

Scary news on the very same day many American’s are celebrating.

An al Qaeda affiliate in Algeria closed a base earlier this month after an experiment with unconventional weapons went awry, a senior U.S. intelligence official said Monday.

Washington Times – Al Qaeda bungles arms experiment

Filed under: GWOT, Global Threats, Islam, Muslim

Iran Tests Fires Missiles

The picture speaks for itself…

Groupthink :: View topic – Life Imitates The Cube: Iran’s Mullahs Photoshop A Missile

Filed under: Iran, Islam, Military, Muslim

What are we doing?

Filed under: Islam, Muslim, Politics, Religion, Thoughts

Democrats = Copperheads?

Occasionally I browse through Wikipedia for fun.  Understanding its editorial process, I know not to assume everything written in there is fair, non-partisan or accurate.  But, it is a great place to gather initial research and provide a starting point for further research.

Today I stumbled upon a piece of history that might describe today’s events if we changes some of the words slightly…

During the American Civil War (1861-1865) Iraq War, the Copperheads Democrats nominally favored the Union but strongly opposed the war, for which they blamed abolitionists Rumsfeld, Cheney and Rice, and they demanded immediate peace and resisted draft laws funding. They wanted Lincoln Bush and the Republicans ousted from power, seeing the president as a tyrant who was destroying American republican democratic values with his despotic and arbitrary actions.

Some Copperheads Democrats tried to persuade Union soldiers to desert. They talked of helping Confederate Iraqi/Al Qaeda prisoners of war seize their camps and escape. They sometimes met with Confederate Islamic Radical agents and took money. The Confederacy Islamic Radicals encouraged their activities whenever possible.^[1] Most Some Democratic party leaders, however, repelled Confederate Islamic Fundamentalist advances.

I found the similarities between the Copperheads and Democrats amazingly close.  But back in the 1800’s, groups like the Copperheads were handled much differently.

The Copperheads sometimes talked of violent resistance, and in some cases started to organize. They never actually made an organized attack, though. As war opponents, Copperheads were suspected of disloyalty, and Lincoln often had their leaders arrested and held for months in military prisons without trial.

Anyway, maybe the comparison is a stretch, but I still found it all quite similar to today’s current events.

Filed under: Democrats, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Politics, Republicans, Thoughts

California in Flames in More Ways Than One…

You think the wild fires of Southern California are raging?  Just wait until Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week kicks off out there.  Live Blogged from California Patriot Blog in Berkeley (yes, I said Berkeley), this ought to be a wild one…

Being from California, I’m glad to see some sense still left in the state.  Thanks, Cal Patriot Blog!!!

IFAW attracts opposition; prepares for the fireworks

Posted by Megan Sego @ 12:39 pm
Under: General, UC Berkeley, Ideology

The IFAW, or Islamo-fascism Awareness Week is sure attracting a lot of attention and opposition. My friend in Alabama had even heard of the counter-efforts going on and reminded me to bring a video camera. Here’s an update of some of the events:Tonight, Nonie Darwish is speaking at 7pm in 10 Evans. It’s open to anyone, and free, but be advised no large bags or or signs will be allowed in, although there will be a space set aside to leave them safely.

Various members of the media will be in attendance, including (I have been informed) Al-Jazeera.

Filed under: Ass Clown Protesters, Democrats, Islam, Muslim, Nutroots, Politics, Republicans

Saudi Arabia – Really Wife Friendly…

Saudi divorces wife for watching male TV host:

A Saudi man divorced his wife for watching alone a television program presented by a male, an act he deemed immoral, the Al Shams newspaper reported on Saturday.  The man, whom the paper did not identify, ended his marriage on the grounds his wife was effectively alone with an unrelated man, which is forbidden under the strict Islamic law enforced in the ultra-conservative kingdom, the paper said.  Men in Saudi Arabia have the authority to divorce their wives without resort to the courts

Source: Copyright AFP 2007.

Saudi Man Doesn’t Like Soup, Pokes Out Wife’s Eye

A Saudi woman suffered the loss of an eye and burns when her husband stuck his finger in her eye and poured boiling soup on her face because she had not prepared lentil soup for the meal to break the Ramadan fast as he had requested.  The husband acknowledged his actions to police and explained them by saying that he had been extremely irritable because he had not smoked all day. The matter is to be transferred to the court.

Source: Al-Arabiya.net, September 28, 2007

Filed under: Islam, Muslim, Religion

lgf: The Taxi Jihad Continues

I’ve written about this before and am still amazed that the ADA folks haven’t caused a bigger stir.  Maybe they have, but there isn’t anything that I’ve found about how these cabbies are most probably breaking an American Disability Act somewhere by refusing to transport blind passengers. Thanks to LGF for the following:

Muslim cabbies in Milwaukee are still trying to impose shari’a law on their passengers, and refusing to pick up blind passengers with seeing-eye dogs.

Wouldn’t it make sense that these poor passengers would potentially file a lawsuit against the taxi cab companies?  Don’t the cab companies realize the potential for severe financial liability should they get sued?  As a business owner, would these picky cab drivers be considered a liability?

The Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990

S.933

One Hundred First Congress of the United States of America AT THE SECOND SESSION Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, the twenty-third day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety.

An Act to establish a clear and comprehensive prohibition of discrimination on the basis of disability.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled…

SEC. 302. PROHIBITION OF DISCRIMINATION BY PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS.

(a) General Rule.–No individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation.

Oh, I forgot, you can’t hire or fire someone for their religious beliefs.  But, can’t you fire someone for refusing to perform the job as described when hired?  In fact, make it easy, during the job hiring process, make it clear that drivers cannot discriminate against perfectly valid customers, regardless of beliefs.  If they do, the are subject to termination.  If they can’t agree, they can’t work there.

lgf: The Taxi Jihad Continues

Filed under: Islam, Muslim

Cultural Cluelessness: Understanding Iraq.

The trouble with conservatives is that they don’t understand other cultures. Conservatives naively see the world through American eyes. On top of that, conservatives focus more on what other countries mean for America’s internal political battles than on what’s actually going on overseas. No doubt, this stereotypical complaint about American conservatives contains more than a grain of truth. Unfortunately — and counter to stereotype — American liberals have got exactly the same problem.

Read more from Stanley Kurtz on Iraq on National Review Online here.

Filed under: Iraq, Islam

Islam Good, Christianity Bad…

While Christians have been persecuted since the beginning some 2000 years ago, we managed some safety in the last few hundred years.  We have continued minor moralistic skirmishes in the face of 21st Century morality, but still have not faced such a direct threat as we are starting to face today.  Here’s two recent examples.

A Florida hospital chaplain says he was fired from his position for including the word ‘Jesus’ at the end of his prayers, according to report on MyFoxOrlando.com.  Reverend Danny Harvey, who worked for the Leesburg Regional Center for more than seven years, claims to be the victim of religious discrimination after he says the hospital staff forced him to resign from his post.

And from FoxNews this…

DENVER —  A student who said she was told she wouldn’t get her diploma unless she apologized for a commencement speech in which she mentioned Jesus has filed a lawsuit alleging her free speech rights were violated.

But, let me ask this question, had these two individual’s used the name “Allah”, would the reaction be the same?  There seems to be a double standard at work here based on some recent news articles.   Remember these: Muslim Taxi Drivers are outraged to have to transport dogs and alcohol, Target Stores cashiers refuse to ring up pork products, University of Michigan installs foot baths for Muslim students.
Odd isn’t it that the ACLU, whose history is distinctly anti-religious (meaning religion is okay as long as it’s practiced out of sight) actually backs the Muslim University students.  Yet, on their web site today, the ACLU posts this…

In December 2005, the Ector County School Board in Texas voted to adopt a Bible course “The Bible in History and Literature,” which is now taught in two high schools in Odessa, Texas. But rather than teaching about the Bible objectively in a historical or literary context, the course promotes religion. On May 16, 2007, the ACLU filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of eight parents in Odessa, Texas, against the Ector County school board. The parents say the course violates their religious liberty by promoting particular religious beliefs to children in their community.

Dare I ask how this lawsuit would have gone had the class been about “The Koran in History and Literature”?  Most likely, the parents would have been accused of Islamophobia.

Filed under: History, Islam, Politics, Religion

I’ll Be Islamically Reknowned!

It’s Jihad: the Musical!  Funny stuff…

Filed under: Actors, Fun, Islam, Muslim

Women Under Islam. A. Morgan

I found this article linked from Pajamas Media to Family Security Matters.  Adrian Morgan has written the first of four parts on Women Under Islam.  This initial article addresses the hijab and it seems to be a well written with plenty of links to the sources it cites.

Positing the question, is wearing the hijab a political or religious statement, Adrian explores the recent developments in the U.K. and some European history for explanation. 

According to Islam-Watch.org, “Adrian Morgan is a British based writer and artist who has written for Western Resistance since its inception. He also writes for Spero News, Family Security Matters and Faithfreedom.org. He has previously contributed to various publications, including the Guardian and New Scientist and is a former Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Society.”

Here’s some highlights.

Back in the 1980s, few young Western Muslim women wore the Muslim head scarf, or hijab. In fact it was banned in some Muslim countries for teachers and those employed by the state.

The wearing of hijabs and their subsequent bans in schools, followed by legal appeals, have changed the political landscape of the West almost as much as terrorism.

Within all this controversy, the involvement of political factions in encouraging Muslim women to wear the hijab, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Tablighi Jamaat and Hizb ut-Tahrir, has been forgotten. Muslim women are portrayed in the media as wearing the veil through their own volition, ignoring the pervasive effects of peer pressure.

You may want to spend some time surfing through the FSM web site. My worries were that it would be an emotion filled, irrational right wing mouth piece for some opinionated snob proved invalid. Not only is the site professionally done, many of its contributors are qualified and educated men and women of solid repute.

Filed under: Islam, Muslim, Religion

We Must Not Lose This War…

This war is about much more than Iraq or Afghanistan.  In case you haven’t quite figured that out, here’s another example of why we must win…

June 27, 2007
No.1635

Senior Al-Qaeda Sheikh: ‘May Allah Send Someone Who Will Kill Them Even More [Savagely]… Tear Their Hearts Out… Cut Their Heads Off, Tear Them Limb From Limb, and Shed Their Blood in Rivers’

The April-May 2007 issue of the jihadi e-magazine Sada Al-Jihad, published by the Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF), includes an article by Sheikh Hussein bin Mahmoud [1] titled “Let Them Find Ruthlessness in You,” in which he criticizes the Muslims for being too lenient in their war against their enemies. Bin Mahmoud states that Allah commanded the Muslims to fight their enemies fiercely, without compassion or mercy, and uses Koranic verses to back up his assertions. He extols the example of Abu Mus’ab Al-Zarqawi, who cut off the infidels’ heads and struck terror in their hearts.

From MEMRI, follow the link.

Filed under: Global Threats, Islam, Muslim

Fox Shows "Islam Against Islamists"

I’ve been watching Fox’s presentation of the movie that PBS chose not to air.  According to Gaffney, Burke and Alexiev, the makers of the documentary, PBS found it to be too alarmist in their representation. 

Twenty three minutes into the show, I can almost understand why they might say that.  The first twenty minutes relies heavily on an interview with a confirmed terrorist who has ties to Omar Abdel-Rahman, the Blind Sheik.  No other moderate Muslim leader’s counterpoint is presented.

It is unclear at this point if Fox is presenting the entire film or select scenes.  If the latter is true, then Fox certainly is taking the film slightly out of context.

Where are the interviews with moderate Muslim leaders who are speaking out against such things as Jihadism, honor killings and intimidation of moderate Muslims?  Are we to believe that Frank Gaffney and Alex Alexiev, both of whom are experienced, recognized National Security experts, would purposefully slant the presentation.

Perhaps, but wouldn’t this be obvious and discredit them?  And I certainly don’t want to go down another conspiracy rabbit hole.

Fifty two minutes into the film, they have not yet shown any moderate Muslim leaders.  I may be going against the grain here, but I think I understand why PBS didn’t want to show this.  While the film doesn’t exaggerate the problems with radical Islam, it really doesn’t present any substantial footage of moderates speaking out against radicalism.

PBS probably didn’t want to show a one sided piece, no matter how accurate it was.

I’ll continue on this later…

Filed under: Islam, Movies, Muslim, Politics, Religion, Thoughts